


Empath

by shulkie



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Modern Setting, Pining!Levi, STRONGLY PINING!LEVI, Smut, empath!eren, side jearmin, side mikanni
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 11:16:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9546488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shulkie/pseuds/shulkie
Summary: For as long as he could remember Eren has been able to sense other’s emotions, but one day he runs into a man whose emotions he can’t quite comprehend and he sets out to investigate this mysterious man in the elevator.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I started this nearly a year ago and just finished it this week so enjoy!
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)!

 

Eren had been like this for as long as he’d remembered. Whenever a baby in the daycare would start crying, Eren would wail along with them. He remembered passing by old men telling bawdy jokes as a child and he would laugh along with them without knowing the punchline. When his friends hit puberty that was an awkward time for him. But it made him a better brother to Mikasa, because he knew _exactly_ how she felt when a boy was mean to her (and…maybe he used his fists to settle that). And when Armin was cramming for a test, he was stressing right along with him, poring over notes for a final he didn’t even have.

This way he had, of feeling what others were feeling, grew. He became more aware of it. He knew when Jean had a crush on Mikasa. And he knew _before_ Jean when he had a crush on Armin. Sometimes it was a blessing. Most times…it felt like a curse. Because when you’re a child that cries when someone else cries, they just call you sympathetic. But when you’re a grown man who has just watched a child drop their ice cream on the ground, it’s weird to cry too. But then, there were days he couldn’t help but enjoy. Passing by an older couple still holding hands and so in love with each other had Eren humming old love songs all day.

More often than not, these feelings lasted for a long time. It wasn’t just like a flash and then it was over; they lingered, floating around in his head, turning over and over. It was like running your tongue over a jagged tooth, or a song on the radio that you just can’t get out of your head. They were persistent. They were overwhelming. They were confusing. But he dealt with them.

That is, until the man in the elevator.

One day he managed to get to his job early, stopping by the coffee shop downstairs. He followed a suit out and they both stepped into the elevator. Within moments, Eren felt it hit him, like his skin had ants crawling all over. His tongue felt thick and when he took a sip of coffee he burned his mouth. He was so uncomfortable and he felt his face heat up uncontrollably. Eren got out of the elevator at his stop and whipped around to look at the man, but he was busy on his phone, sipping coffee, oblivious to Eren’s crisis.

_What was that?_

Eren never wanted to feel that again. God, that was awful. It stayed with him all day, like a perfume, just hovering in the air. People would hand him files and he’d jump a mile. It was exhausting.

But, like they all did, the feeling eventually passed. Eren had actually forgotten about it until the next time he stopped by the coffee shop early. He and the gentleman made it into the elevator again. And without warning the feeling nearly knocked him flat on his ass. His heart began racing, his stomach lurched.

Maybe the man was claustrophobic?

Eren snuck a sideways glance. He didn’t appear to be too concerned with the elevator. When he saw Eren watching him out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head slightly. Eren’s face flushed to the roots and his stomach curled itself unpleasantly. Maybe it was just dinner last night; they’d gotten meatball subs from the weird sandwich place again. Eren got off the elevator and was stuck with a lurching stomach all day. He went home early.

“My stomach hurts,” he complained, stepping into Mikasa and Annie’s flat.

Both girls were sitting on the couch, holding hot water bottles and looking at him with little sympathy.

“What are we watching?” he asked, curling up next to them. “I just want to watch romcoms or the Food Network until this goes away.”

“We’re watching Sandra Bullock,” Annie said, eating popcorn.

“Perfect,” said Eren.

Armin was more sympathetic about it.

“Well, we know that emotions can cause physical responses, so this isn’t unexpected,” he offered, when Eren was still moaning about his stomach. “You’re all flushed too.”

“I know, but this is like being at the top of a rollercoaster and having it suddenly drop, it’s unbearable,” Eren moaned. “It’s like when the big kid on the playground gives the tire swing an extra push. I don’t know what it is and it’s driving me crazy.”

Armin looked thoughtful.

“Ah, yeah,” Jean interrupted, helping himself to Eren’s cereal. “I know that feeling.”

“No you don’t, Jean,” Eren waved him off. Eren knew all of Jean’s three feelings: Armin, food, and television.

“Uh, yes, I do. Why do you think I left to study abroad junior year of college? So Harriet the emotion spy here wouldn’t be able to get a read on me.”

That wasn’t fair; Eren didn’t choose to be able to pick up emotions. It wasn’t like he was actively trying to seek out what Jean was feeling.

“So what is it?” Eren asked sitting upright.

“Naw, you’re gonna have to figure it out for yourself,” Jean laughed.

Eren narrowed his eyes. But Jean’s amusement at his expense lightened the mood a little.

“Well Eren, you know what to do,” Armin offered, patting him on the back sympathetically.

He’d have to avoid him. That was a common tactic Eren was forced to employ to escape certain overwhelming emotions. Like Christa, who looked all sweet and laughed so often, but inside she was so lonely and sad. Every time Eren spent any time in her presence he became sullen and unbearable. How Christa managed to shine like sun when she felt like that was beyond him.

Armin was right, it might be for the best for him to avoid the man in the suit at least until Eren could better understand what feeling that was.

“I mean, Armin has a point, if it’s bothering me that much, I should just stay away,” Eren said, picking lint off his shirt at his therapist’s office.

Dr. Hanji was the first therapist that hadn’t accused him of being a liar or delusional when it came to his ability to sense other’s emotions. Dr. Hanji called Eren an “empath,” whatever that meant. They were always asking questions about it. Sometimes these questions got exhausting, but more often than not they were helpful, they made Eren better understand how these emotions worked. Sometimes Dr. Hanji could be a little…excited, but that was fine because often it made _him_ excited.

“It’s just it’s so overwhelming, you know?”

“Yes,” Doctor Hanji nodded, adjusting their glasses. “You said it was only the strong emotions that stayed with you all day?”

“Yeah, I mean, I can feel other emotions during, it’s just when one latches on, it’s usually because it’s the strongest.”

“And you’ve never felt this emotion before?”

“I mean, I must have, but this is just…I haven’t experienced it quite like this. I don’t even know what to call it.”

“Hm,” Dr. Hanji made a note.

“What?” Eren asked sitting up.

“Well, as your doctor, I think it is wisest to follow your friend’s advice and avoid this individual. But as a scientist…”

Eren cocked his head to the side.

“As a scientist, I’d want to know more.”

Eren found himself being exactly what Jean accused him of: an emotion spy.

It turned out Mr. Suit was very regular in his routines. He showed up at the café every day at 7:45AM, he waited in line and then ordered his earl grey tea. Then he would wait patiently for his drink, looking at his phone before getting in the elevator at exactly 7:55AM. He didn’t see Eren, lurking in the back with his hoodie pulled down over his face and he didn’t see Eren stumble in with the large crowd for the elevator.

Huh. Nothing.

He wasn’t feeling anything inside the elevator, so it wasn’t anxiety. Eren could sense other things from Mr. Suit though. Like disgust at the mess on the coffee bar. And annoyance when a taller man jostled him. A spark of delight when he saw the window cleaners were busy cleaning the skyscraper. Weird. The man in the suit was weird. Eren couldn’t help but feel intensely curious about him, but that might have been a lingering Hanji.

Alas all of his investigating was for naught. There was no sign of the strange feeling from before. Maybe Eren was wrong to blame the man in the suit for it. It was a busy building, maybe it was someone else.

He had all but resigned himself to give up, but then the next day, he was in line early, getting coffee and the man in the suit stepped behind him. And then he felt it. A pang in his chest, a drop in his gut.

“Ow,” he whimpered.

“Sorry, did I step on you?” the man asked, mistaking Eren’s discomfort for something else.

Eren shook his head, eyes watering a little.

It was so distracting that when they called out a drink at the café bar, he reached for it, not hearing what they had said and then knocked hands with the same man for the drink.

“Sorry,” Eren mumbled.

“No problem,” he said, taking his drink.

Then it was as if the feeling ramped up to 11. Eren found himself trapped in an elevator with him and it was unbearable! How did this man walk around with this sensation? Eren stepped off the elevator and slumped against the wall.

“It’s like a longing,” he told Annie, stopping by her and Mikasa’s place for comfort again. “Like a wanderlust except I don’t want to go anywhere. Or do anything.”

He groaned loudly.

“Sucks,” Annie grunted, stepping around where he was prostrate on the floor.

“It’s like I’m wistful. All I want to do is stare out the window at the little droplets of rain.”

“It’s sunny,” Mikasa pointed out.

“The weather betrays me,” Eren proclaimed dramatically.

When he got home he flopped on a couch, sighing loudly.

“Everything okay?” Armin asked, tiptoeing up to him.

Eren sighed again. Armin looked to a very disinterested Jean for assistance. Jean shook his head. Armin stared harder. Jean relented.

“What’s wrong?” Jean asked.

“Everything hurts. My lips. My face. It feels like someone is sitting on my chest. My stomach hurts. Everything is too much. I ache.”

“Do you feel like there is a great big gaping hole in your gut?”

“Yes.”

“And like someone is holding your heart in their hands, like they might squeeze it?”

“Yes!”

“And like everything is brighter and bolder, the wind, the flowers, children playing?”

“Well that’s kindof how I feel all the time with this empath thing, but yes, triple yes.”

“And like you’re constantly looking on the horizon for that one specific person?”

“Yea—wait a moment—how do you know?”

“Oh Eren,” Jean said patting him. “You’re in love.”

“Pffft I’m not in love. I’m just experiencing—oh my god, he’s in love. He’s… _pining_ for someone!”

“There we go,” Jean said, getting up.

“Okay, I need to tell Dr. Hanji,” Eren said hopping off the couch and pacing. “Because now I need to make a new plan!”

He left, now wrapped up in this idea.

“How do you know what being in love feels like?” Armin asked, wrinkling his nose.

Jean raised his eyebrows pointedly.

“Jean!” Armin cried and grabbed a pillow to hide the blush spreading across his face.

Eren called Dr. Hanji as soon as possible.

“Do you know what this means?” Eren told Hanji. “If I can figure out who the object of his affection is, then maybe I can help him get over his crush!”

“I thought you’d felt crushes before?” Hanji mused, crunching on crackers over the phone.

“Yeah, like puppy love, but this is like just like sad miserable wretched pining. It’s awful, it needs to go.”

“Well good luck to you,” said Hanji.

Eren observed his mark from afar. The man in the suit had his routine, and Eren began making note of who he talked to on his way.

[Armin:] Maybe it’s the barista?

[Eren:] No, I tried, but it’s the same one every day and I don’t feel anything.

But then, that Wednesday, there was a breakthrough. Eren and Mr. Suit got in their elevator as per usual.

“Hold it please!” a voice called out and Eren held the door for the gentleman with his briefcase.

“Thank you,” he said smiling.

The newcomer took his spot next to the short man in the business suit.

“Levi,” he nodded.

“Erwin,” greeted Mr. Suit.

[Eren:] His name is Levi!!!

Mr. Levi in a Suit stepped closer to Eren to allow Erwin more room and then Eren felt it. That painful pang of longing and desire. It was stronger than he’d ever felt it before. Eren looked over at Levi curiously to examine the distance between the two men. They obviously knew each other. Levi caught Eren staring and Eren snapped to attention, focusing on the doors in front of him. But the gaze of the shorter man continued to stay on Eren’s head and Eren’s heart raced, full of adrenaline at being caught staring and also Levi’s heavy crush. When the doors opened for his spot he raced out thankful to be free.

[Eren:] I think I’ve figured out who Mr. Suit’s crush is!

[Armin:] That’s great!

[Eren:] Now to play matchmaker!

How to do it, he wondered. He could send them both flowers that were “From an admirer” asking each to meet in the lobby. He could call them each and tell them they’d won a free dinner and then pay for their date himself. Actually all of these were starting to sound very time consuming and not too kind to his wallet. Maybe he could arrange some kind of meet up? Now that he knew their names, he could find their jobs on the building website. They appeared to work together. So they must see each other every day. That was inconvenient. If it were just a case of a missed connection, Eren might have been able to help more. But this…it might take more than Eren had to offer for Levi to confront his crush.

He was still in the brainstorming stage of ideas when something terrible and awful happened during lunch. Erwin came out of the elevator doors and Eren’s eyes followed him as he worked on his BLT. A petite woman came over to hand him a…package? What was it? Lunch, oh she brought him lunch. And a baby.

And then Eren realized. Mr. Suit’s crush was married. Married with kids. Married with kids and lunch!

“No wonder his emotions are so strong. He knows his love will never love him back,” Eren mourned to Armin.

“This is a setback,” Armin agreed, handing Eren some pretzels to eat.

“I just thought I could fix this.”

“I don’t think that was ever within your abilities, Eren,” Armin consoled him.

“Yeah, but before I was just annoyed by this guy leaving his feelings all over. Now I feel for him.”

Then later, after he told Dr. Hanji all about his failed plan, Eren mused aloud, “You know I often wonder if…I mean, I have these strong feelings, these strong emotions, but I wonder if under it all, I don’t have anything.”

“What do you mean?” Hanji asked.

“I mean, we are our emotions, right? And I don’t know what mine are. I never know if something is my idea or someone else’s. I feel too much, too brightly, too intensely, I feel all the time, like what others are feeling is pouring out them and into me and I’m overflowing. But it’s not my emotion. It’s not my grief or my heartbreak. It belongs to someone else. And I just don’t know that with all of the crap other people dump on me, if there’s any _me_ underneath it all.”

“Oh,” Dr. Hanji blinked owlishly behind their frames.

Eren chanced to look at them and then back down to the paper star he was making.

“Well I think I might disagree a little bit with your theory there Eren,” Dr. Hanji said. “I think it’s our actions shape us more than how we think or feel. And how do you deal with the emotions you feel? When your sister was hurt, you lashed out in anger against the one who hurt her to protect her. When your friend is stressed, you hit the books with him in a show of solidarity.”

“Yeah, but it’s not all good. Jean escaped to fucking France to get away from me because he had it bad for Armin.”

“Or rather you helped him to realize his feelings for your best friend and gave him the time he needed to come to terms with that,” Dr. Hanji said kindly.

Eren looked up at them doubtfully.

“And when you saw a sad, lonely, and desperately infatuated man, your first instinct was to try and unite him with his love.”

Eren frowned.

“I didn’t do it to be nice. I did it because no one should feel that sad,” Eren mumbled.

“I think Eren, there’s a lot of you in these people and I think the emotions you feel from them are the ones that resonate with you the strongest.”

Eren hadn’t thought of that.

When he found himself, on yet another grey morning standing in line for coffee, feeling a new wave of unrequited love spill over him as Levi stepped behind him, he thought of how to turn these feelings into actions. He mused over it while sipping scalding coffee. And when it came time for his stop, he paused in the doorway of the elevator.

“I hope they’re worth it,” Eren said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. “…that is, whoever it is you’re in love with.”

The man stared at him and just when Eren was sure he’d convinced Levi that he was crazy, he said, softly, “Me too.”

“I’m Eren,” Eren said as the doors slid shut.

“Levi,” said Levi, his voice nearly swallowed up by the doors.

Eren grinned.

Whatever it was that had consumed Levi gave way. Eren still felt it there, simmering under the surface, but now it had slipped into a pleasant ache. It hurt, but Eren still wanted it there, hidden in his breast like an old letter folded away in a drawer. He would feel empty without it. He thought more on what Hanji had said about how he was the one to interpret their emotions. Levi’s must have hurt because he was unused to them, but now that he recognized the sensation, he treasured it. It made him cherish every interaction with those in his life. Levi’s ardor had set a small flame in his heart.

One morning, as he picked up his coffee, humming dreamily to himself, musing over love and longing and the glorious sunrise, he passed by Sasha sitting at one of the tables already working at her lunch despite the fact that it was early.

“Hello Sasha!” he waved, sighing happily.

“Mmm, hi Eren, I’d talk to you more, but this potato salad is just…sinful,” she said with a full mouth.

“Okay, well have fun,” Eren waved her off.

And it struck.

Hanji said his brain interpreted other’s emotions into his own and well, Sasha’s longing for her potato salad stirred something else inside him.

“No, not again,” he murmured to himself as he walked haltingly to the elevator.

Sasha was one of those people Eren avoided for a reason. When she was hungry, she was filled with palpable, inhuman rage. She felt passionately about food. Very passionately.

Well this wasn’t the first time that he’d popped an inconvenient boner over something so silly. He felt waves of heat pass over him and he dragged his ass to the elevator. He just needed to get to the bathroom and splash some cold water on his…face. These feelings came on and they were always strong, but he had resisted them before.

“Are you okay?” Levi asked as Eren doubled over clutching, his stomach.

He leaned in close and a wave of his cologne swept over Eren. God that was hot. He smelled even better than a large slice of chocolate raspberry cake. Fuck now he was thinking about food and sex. Goddamnit.

“Stomach,” Eren waved him off.

“You’re not going to puke, are you?” Levi asked, looking uncertain that he wanted to be standing there. “Here.”

He took Eren’s arm.

 _No, please no, what are you doing, you’re killing me here_ , Eren thought frantically. His hands were so beautiful and delicate looking. Just like ladyfingers on a—STOP THINKING ABOUT FOOD. He put his hand over his eyes, his hand shaking.

“You look like you’re about to pass out,” Levi said as Eren lurched. “Or shit your pants.”

“It happens a lot, it’ll pass,” Eren said, waving his hand in front of his face.

The doors opened on Eren’s floor and Levi helped him to the restroom. Eren’s body was tingling, he could hear his blood pounding in his ears, he was acutely aware of every taste bud on his tongue, and Levi’s shampoo—what was that, Tea Tree? Levi’s face swam in front of his vision.

“Do you want me to call an ambulance?” he asked.

Levi’s lips were slightly chapped and Eren thought that he could use some of the Mikasa’s cherry chapstick that he carried around. Eren’s pants were too tight. He wanted to feel Levi’s hands on his thighs. He wanted to run his own hands over Levi’s wool suit, he wanted to feel the sensation of each stitch under his fingertips, let it catch a little on the calluses from his morning workout with weights.

“Eren?” Levi’s lips moved in front of him, looking at him in concern.

 _Funny_ , Eren thought. _It looks like he’s going to kiss me._

Eren wanted to know what Levi’s lips tasted like. He closed his eyes, trying to hide this fact from Levi. All of Sasha’s lust for food was mixing with Levi’s pining and Eren was having a hard time knowing where he was in all of that. Where was Eren, lost in a tumult of senses? He just wanted to know for once what he felt and what he wanted—

Eren jumped as something soft and gentle pressed against his lips.

Levi reared back, clapping his hands over his mouth.

“I’m—I’m so sorry, you looked like—I thought you—oh god, you’re sick and I’m being—“ Levi stammered, face flushed.

Eren was still frozen in place.

And there it was, a sudden moment of clarity.

“I’m going to go get help and you just stay right here—“ Levi continued, pointing at the door.

Eren grabbed the front of his shirt.

“Do that again,” Eren said, releasing him.

Levi blinked, his flat expression unreadable. In one smooth moment, he caressed Eren’s cheek and pushed up on tiptoe to kiss him.

“Yeah,” Eren agreed, nodding to himself as Levi pulled away.

“Huh?” Levi asked, but Eren already had his arms around him.

Eren pulled him close and slipped his tongue inside Levi’s mouth. Levi’s eyes widened. They fell against the door, two bodies crashing into each other.

“I want this,” Eren panted onto Levi’s lips.

He could feel Levi’s excitement, arousal, and just a twinge of fear. Fear of uncertainty, of unknowing. Eren kissed him right under his jaw and then dragged his lips down his throat.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Levi gasped, glasses askew, hands gripping onto Eren’s shirt for dear life. “I can’t believe this is real. I never thought you’d—“

“Huh?” Eren pulled back, lips bruised and body wiggling with excitement.

“I mean,” Levi started, smoothing the wrinkles from his shirt. “I saw you in line at coffee every day and I used to dream…I don’t know…hope? That you might…that we could…”

He wasn’t really great with words. But that was fine, Eren knew exactly what he meant. _Eren_ was the focus of Levi’s desire. He’d had been so busy looking for some mystery lover, too wrapped up in someone else’s head, Eren had never thought the recipient of these tumultuous feelings could be _him_.

“…Oh,” was all Eren had to offer.

“I’m sorry, that was weird…” Levi said, reaching for the door handle, instead changing his mind and going to wash his hands first. “I’ll just—“ He grabbed several paper towels and made to open the door. “Sorry I should get to work.”

Eren was still marveling over the fact that he was the missing link in all of this so he didn’t move from the door even as Levi attempted to open it.

“Me?” Eren asked.

“Oh fuck,” Levi said, his face turning bright red again. “Was I that obvious?”

Eren’s stomach cramped up again with Levi’s humiliation.

“No, no,” Eren said and then he wrapped his arms around Levi’s waist. “No you were—“

He couldn’t think of a word but Levi’s feelings supplied one.

 _Perfect_.

Levi thought Eren was perfect. Which made Eren think Levi was perfect.

Eren didn’t want to breathe, he wanted to kiss Levi until they melted away together. He’d never felt another person like this. Touch seemed to magnify Eren’s abilities, emotions moved from vague to concrete. He could almost hear every one of Levi’s thoughts.

 _His breath is sweet, his kisses are overwhelming, I want to taste him, I want to be_ in _him, I want him to be in_ me _, this bathroom is really gross, oh god I wish I could introduce him to Mom, this sink is digging into my back like a motherfucker._

Eren laughed giddily, feeling drunk off of Levi’s passion. Eren moved Levi so the faucet wasn’t digging into his back anymore, pulling off his wool coat and gently folding it. Levi’s relief at Eren’s gentle treatment of his clothes flooded through him. Eren paused for a moment, looking in the mirror. There was another mirror behind him so at just the right angle he could see himself and Levi reflect back again.

Eren had always thought of himself like a mirror, simply casting back what others were showing him, but now he felt…in charge. In control of his own self. He undid the buttons on Levi’s shirt, each one sending a shiver up his spine as the well of emotions overfilled, spilling into Eren.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Levi repeated, as Eren kissed his way down Levi’s bare stomach. “You’re like a dream. Like a fantasy.”

“Hey Boss?” someone called through the door.

Eren and Levi froze, Levi pinned against the mirrors on the sink counter.

Levi cleared his throat. “Yeah Oluo?”

“You doin’ okay? The door is locked. I saw you rush in.”

“Food…poisoning,” Levi lied. “Me and this other guy. We’re…real sick. It’s just…it’s a fucking mess in here. You don’t want to come in here. Just shit…and vomit…everywhere.”

“Oh jeez, should I call an ambulance?”

“No just…leave a mop and bucket outside I’ll clean it up,” Levi said, as Eren sucked at a nipple.

“C’mon Boss, you’re sick, we’ll get someone else to get it.”

“No just—Ah!” he gasped as Eren bit the nipple gently. “I’ll be fine!”

“Okay, sure…if you say so.”

Eren undid Levi’s belt buckle. “You’re so gorgeous,” Eren told Levi. “Your body is…wow.”

He kissed Levi’s hips and Levi was shaking and melting under his hands. Slipping off Levi’s boxers he allowed himself a moment to examine his cock. It was gorgeous, just the perfect amount of—you know what Eren hadn’t had in a while? Zucchini bread.

Eren gave a little noise of frustration as he tried to will away Sasha’s thoughts of food.

He caressed Levi, feeling the weight of him in his hands. Levi tossed his head back and groaned.

_I want him to suck me off, oh god, I want to come in his mouth._

Eren laughed a little at Levi’s desperation, before wrapping his lips around Levi’s cock. He gave Levi everything he wanted, when he wanted faster, he sped up, when it was too much, he slowed, and when Levi couldn’t take anymore, he stroked him to a finish in his mouth. Levi’s orgasm hit him, that wave of pleasure coursing through Eren’s body. When had his hand slipped between his legs? When did he get this close? He let it release in time with Levi, tasting Levi on his tongue as he came onto the floor.

Levi let out a cry as his body suddenly relaxed like a rubber band snapping. He was so exhausted, he nearly slipped to the floor, Eren caught him, resting his head against Levi’s breast as their breathing calmed. Eren could see the ocean in Levi’s heartbeat and he smiled.

“That was amazing,” Levi said quietly. “I’ve…never done anything like this before.”

“Mmm. Let’s get lunch. I want potato salad,” Eren said, smiling against Levi’s chest.

“You’re weird,” Levi patted Eren’s head fondly. “But I like weird.”

They both called in to work that they were sick (“That kiosk food, sure isn’t good for you!”) and nearly ran to the Uber waiting outside to take them to Levi’s apartment. Eren didn’t waste any time. The second they were inside the door, Eren shucked his clothes and pulled off Levi’s, guiding him to the bedroom, even though he’d never been there before. It was bright and red. Full of hunger and desire.

“I still can’t believe this is really happening,” Levi said as Eren rocked down onto his cock. “You’re so beautiful.”

The second time was purple, like the stain of wine on your mouth. Eren could taste every part of Levi on his tongue and Levi left little sucking kisses on his chest.

The third time was a pale grey, like Levi’s eyes or a newly minted dawn. Just after lunch and a shower, they were clean and in bed and Eren had Levi on his side as he slowly thrust into him. They collapsed after, slipping off into sleep.

“Let me get this straight,” Levi said, standing at the kitchen counter and licking earl grey ice cream off his spoon. “You can…sense things? Like read people’s minds?”

“Yup,” said Eren, getting chocolate ice cream all over his mouth. “Well I mean, I can’t read people’s minds. But I can feel what they’re feeling.”

“Huh.”

“I knew you had a crush on someone, it was so powerful. I just didn’t realize it was me,” Eren explained.

“This is…really embarrassing.”

“Can…can I ask you something?” Eren asked hesitantly. “If you had…such strong feelings for me—“

Levi winced.

“Why didn’t you say anything? You never even said ‘hi!’ to me.”

“Because…because it was—you were this…fantasy. That’s why I honestly still can’t believe you’re here. In nothing but your underwear. In my kitchen.”

“I know fantasy! You weren’t horny, trust me, I’ve encountered that one before—you were—“

“Not all fantasies are about sex,” Levi said quietly.

There was a beat as Eren thought this over with another bite of ice cream.

“Can I ask you something?” Levi asked.

“Sure. Ask away,” Eren encouraged. He realized that his confession was strange and that people obviously would think he was making it up or exaggerating, so he welcomed the questions. He couldn’t always answer them but he could try.

“If you can feel what I feel…if sometimes these feelings…they linger. Then how do you know that what you feel for me is real? How do I know that you’re not just...”

Eren felt it again. That pang of loneliness. How long had someone like Levi longed to be touched, to be caressed? To be held like this and wanted. That’s all Levi needed. To be wanted. He stretched out his hand and caressed Levi’s cheek.

“I guess I don’t know,” Eren admitted. “But…I’m here. I’m here with you right now. That’s gotta count for something, right?”

_He’s perfect._

Eren burst out laughing and pulled Levi close.

The ice cream melted. They instead found their way onto the kitchen floor, pressing against each other with heated kisses. This time it was yellow, bright as the sun and warm even though the floor was cold. Happiness was…that first crisp leaf you crunch under your foot. It was the way someone tossed their head back as they looked over at you on a rollercoaster. It was when you and your best friend shared an important secret.

It was four in the afternoon and sitting on a couch with a man you just met, holding his pillow in your arms, laughing at his awful jokes and thinking of the possibilities to come.

 

**Author's Note:**

> If you like this please leave kudos and/or comments! Your comments keep me motivated! Also check out my other ereri fics! Or come bug me on my tumblr! 
> 
> My tumblr is [perksofbeingawaifu](http://perksofbeingawaifu.tumblr.com/)!


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